The present invention relates generally to packaging for heavy objects, and more particularly relates to a packaging base plate for heavy objects such as motors.
Current motor packaging base plates employed by the industry for shipping electric motors of varying sizes, usually employ a base plate and cradle including two or more pieces, (more often than not more than one cradle is necessary to support the motor in shipment) while foot mounted motors employ wafer board base plates without a cradle. More often, these multi-piece packages employ a shrink or stretch wrap which attempts to hold the motor position relative to the base plate. In either of these prior art systems, the motors tend to slide on the hard base plate as the shrink or stretch wrap memory changes which can abrade the finish on the heavy object, e.g., the motor. The use of styrofoam formed cradles is expensive since multiple cradles are often employed. Moreover, with three materials in the packaging, wood, cardboard and plastic, the recycling of materials becomes more difficult rather than less. Additionally, the current two piece design requires additional labor in packaging the motor because of the handling of separate and multiple pieces.
The use of two or more ply cardboard for a pallet for the shipment of heavy objects, for example compressors and the like, is old in the art. For example, some of the base pads for heavy objects are provided with depressions to accommodate the object's support feet. In other prior art, bottom sheets of pallet shipping structures of several layers of card stock are formed in which one or more is cut out so as to positively locate the heavy objects, such as compressors. In other prior art, a top sheet of single faced corrugated card stock is embossed with the outline of the article that is to be shipped. The card support and the products are shipped covered with a shrink wrap material that holds the contents in position. Moreover, the use of a foam-like material, for example, a foam such as styrofoam or the like has been employed successfully to form a conforming surface for the article being shipped. However, none of the prior art provides a novel base plate structure for receiving, cradling, cushioning and inhibiting movement of a heavy object thereon, which base plate is constructed of inexpensive material while minimizing labor costs in forming a package to be placed in a shipping container for shipment. Moreover, the inexpensive use of a single material for the packaging base plate as well as its novel structure allows for easy recycling of the materials without undue expense.